Lend me your ears

What else, along with the voice, communicate the emotion of love? Surprisingly they are the ears. Probably the symbol of a heart that denotes love was created by imagining two ears placed side by side – explaining its popular shape.

Just as there is a marked difference between seeing and watching, so it is between hearing and listening. Affection is measured by the attention paid to all that is said.

Ears never stop working even while we’re asleep; the brain only numbs the softer sounds so that we get our rest. Sadly they don’t have lids that can close to shut out unpleasant sounds like the eyes have for such sights. Ears are clever though; they have no filters so can easily identify tones and intentions, kindness and the sarcasm – none of which can escape the auditory senses.

Thank God ears can’t hear the ranting of others’ minds. This reminds me of an interesting story: An old man once found a colourful pair of spectacles on the beach.

He wore them and discovered they had magical powers that enabled him to clearly hear aloud, all that people around him were thinking about. He went home
looking forward to enjoying being privy to people’s innermost thoughts.

But alas! He was greatly saddened by the opinion and feelings his hypocritical family members, friends and neighbours had about and for him. He reached such a level disappointment that he went back to the beach and threw the glasses into the sea, thus ending his misery. Ignorance of certain things is truly bliss!

So are we supposed to hear everything that goes on around us? Warnings given by elders about people who eavesdrop on others’ private conversations being reborn as lizards (probably because they’re constantly on walls and walls have ears?) sends shudders through many of us and we refrain from such acts.

We humans have the blessing of choice where it comes to listening. Listening to soothing words and music calms our mind and body. Listening to disturbing news and information makes us restless and fearful. We can choose to connect with the creator by listening to spiritual content and learn life’s lessons; and be kind enough to use words and tones that will lift spirits and cheer minds of listeners.